The Artist's Michel Hazanavicius (right) is the only first-timer among the five nominated directors for the 2012 Directors Guild of America Awards. Hazanavicius' competition consists of Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris, David Fincher for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Alexander Payne for The Descendants and Martin Scorsese for Hugo.

This marks Woody Allen's fifth DGA Award nomination, following Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). He won for Annie Hall. Curiously, Allen failed to receive a matching Academy Award nomination for Manhattan, one of his most prestigious efforts.

David Fincher has been nominated twice before, for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and The Social Network (2010). Fincher was the favorite to win for the latter film, but surprisingly lost to Tom Hooper for The King's Speech. Hooper also went on to win last year's Academy Award. Somewhat ironically, Fincher's inclusion among the top five DGA nominees this year was a moderate surprise. Most were probably expecting Steven Spielberg for War Horse, Tate Taylor for The Help, or perhaps even Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life.

Alexander Payne has one previous DGA Award nomination, for Sideways, while Martin Scorsese has seven previous DGA nods in the motion picture category: Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), and The Departed (2006). Scorsese finally won for one of his lesser effort, The Departed. Twice he failed to receive matching Best Director Oscar nods: for Taxi Driver and The Age of Innocence.

'The Artist' Dog Star Uggie: Bafta Nominee?

Recently, we've been fed the b.s. story about Rin Tin Tin being the actual first Best Actor Academy Award winner. Now comes another canine story, this one starring Uggie, the four-legged scene-stealer in Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist. We're told that Uggie could have been a contender for the British Academy of Film and Television Awards – the BAFTAs – in the Best Supporting Actor category. Could is the word, as The Artist's UK-based publicity firm Premiere PR has recently sent the following information to the British Academy members:

“We have received a number of inquiries regarding the eligibility of Uggie, the Jack Russell, in the role of 'DOG' for Actor in a Supporting Role in The Artist. Regretfully, we must advise that as he is not a human being and as his unique motivation as an actor was sausages, Uggie is not qualified to compete for the BAFTA in this category. We thank you on his behalf for your support and will pass your compliments along to him.”

I should add that Uggie hasn't been included in the BAFTA longlist for Best Supporting Actor. Perhaps because he isn't a Hollywood star, as BAFTA voters clearly love Hollywood celebrities much more than they love dogs.

Now, according to one blogger who went to a Los Angeles screening of The Artist, Uggie was in attendance, “shivering and scared.” [Update: I'd initially remarked that “treating a dog that way is something that definitely doesn't merit any awards.” Now, Uggie is 10 years old and according to Premiere PR's Liz Miller, he trembles even in his sleep. Miller adds that “his owner/trainer, Omar, clearly loves Uggie and would never allow him to suffer in any way.” Please check out her comment below.]

Best Director
Lisa Aschan for Apflickorna / She Monkeys
Lisa Ohlin for Simon och ekarna / Simon and the OaksRuben Östlund for Play

Best actress in a leading role
Ann Petrén for her role as Jonna in Happy End
Magdalena Poplawska for her role as Marta in Between 2 Fires
Helen Sjöholm for her role as Karin Larsson in Simon och ekarna / Simon and the Oaks

Best actor in a leading role
Mikael Persbrandt for his role as Johan in Stockholm Östra / Stockholm East
Sven-Bertil Taube for his role as George in En enkel till Antibes / A One-way to Antibes
Kevin Vaz for his role as Kevin in Play

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Helena Bergström for her role as Anneli in Någon annanstans i Sverige / Somewhere Else
Liv Mjönes for her role as Frida in Kyss mig / With Every Hearbeat
Cecilia Nilsson for her role as Inga in Simon och ekarna / Simon and the Oaks

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Peter Andersson for his role as Mårten in Happy End
Jan Josef Liefers for his role as Ruben Lentov in Simon och ekarna / Simon and the Oaks
Johan Widerberg for his role as Asger in Happy End

Best Screenplay
Josefine Adolfsson and Lisa Aschan for their script for Apflickorna / She Monkeys
Pernilla Oljelund for her script for Stockholm Östra / Stockholm East
Ruben Östlund for his script for Play

Best Cinematography
Marius Dybwad Brandrud for his cinematography in Play
Per Källberg for his cinematography in Stockholm Östra /Stockholm East
Dan Lausten for his cinematography in Simon och ekarna / Simon and the Oaks

Best editing
Jacob Schulsinger for editing Play
Michal Leszczylowski and Kasper Leick for editing Simon och ekarna / Simon and the Oaks
Göran Hugo Olsson and Hanna Lejonqvist for editing The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

Best costume
Moa Li Lemhagen Schalin for the costumes in Kronjuvelerna / The Crown Jewels
Pia Aleborg
for the costumes in Play
Katja Watkins for the costumes in Simon och ekarna / Simon and the Oaks

Best sound
Andreas Franck for the sound in Apflickorna / She Monkeys
Per Hallberg and Daniel Saxlid for the sound in Försvunnen / Gone
Jason Luke for the sound in Simon och ekarna / Simon and the Oaks

Best make up
Anna-Lena Melin for the make up in Gränsen / Beyond the Border
Sara Klänge for the make up in Kronjuvelerna / The Crown Jewels
Linda Boije af Gennäs for the make up in Simon och ekarna / Simon and the Oaks

Best music
Fredrik Emilson for the music in Kronjuvelerna / The Crown Jewels
Annette Focks for the music in Simon och ekarna / Simon and the Oaks
Ahmir Questlove Thompson and Om'Mas Keith for the music in The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

Best set design
Roger Rosenberg for the set design in Kronjuvelerna / The Crown Jewels
Anders Engelbrecht, Lena Selander and Folke Strömbäck for the set design in Simon och ekarna / Simon and the Oaks
Cian Bornebusch for the set design in The Stig-Helmer Story

Best visual effects
Johan Harnesk for the visual effects in Gränsen / Beyond the Border
Håkan Blomdahl and Tor-Björn Olsson for the visual effects in Kronjuvelerna / The Crown Jewels
Marcus B. Brodersen and Lars-Eric Hansen for the visual effects in Simon och ekarna / Simon and the Oaks

Director
The Artist*
The Descendants
Drive*
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo*
The Ides of March
The Iron Lady
J. Edgar
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
My Week with Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin*

Adapted Screenplay
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Coriolanus
The Descendants*
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Help*
Hugo
The Ides of March*
Jane Eyre
Moneyball*
My Week with Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Documentary
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Life in a Day
Pina
Project Nim
Senna

Animated Film
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn*
Arthur Christmas*
Gnomeo and Juliet
Puss in Boots
Rango*

Editing
The Artist*
The Descendants
Drive*
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo*
The Ides of March
The Iron Lady
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
My Week with Marilyn
Senna*
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy*
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin

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In “The Artist” he was so adorable, its was very cute when he ran to the policeman and pretended to be dead!!!

Jody

Uggie CERTAINLY enhanced the movie. I couldn't believe I actually got really weepy when he was looking for the policeman to follow him. Uggie is incredible and should be given an award.

Sarah

Uggie has “white dog syndrome” it's an uncontrollable muscle spasm in the leg when his body is at rest. It gets worst as he gets older and there is no cure. He is not in pain and the shaking legs do not bother him. Uggie is in no way scared, nervous, nor is he shivering. He is a very confident little dog and is treated very well. He sleeps in his owners bed and is treated like a family member. I can't believe people are actually generating negative press about a DOG. But then again, nothing human beings do should ever surprise me. :(

Andre

@Liz,
Thank you for the clarification.

Liz Miller

Re the blogger's comment that he appeared to be 'shivering and scared' at a screening, may we clarify that the artist known as Uggie is knocking on a bit (he's 10 years old) and like many dogs his age, he trembles a little? It doesn't bother him (he does it in his sleep) and his owner/trainer, Omar, clearly loves Uggie and would never allow him to suffer in any way.